The Sky is Blue, The Fields are Yellow

Promo film found here

Ukraine is a country close to my heart, it’s a country I have lived in that is home to family and close friends. My family have been directly affected by the invasion, friends have had to suffer through a brutal assault on a city i’ve come to love over the years. Ukraine stood up to the attack with a strength rooted in decades of Russian oppression. I’m committed to telling the story of people like you and I, who stood up in the face of staggering odds and fought for their freedom.

The Sky is Blue, The Fields are Yellow is a film project looking at the war in Ukraine; before, during, and eventually after. It is a story told through the eyes of 10 people with additional contributions from others we met along the way.

It’s stressful, tragic, darkly funny at times, real and most importantly, relatable at a human level.

At the start of February 2022, the world was talking war. I never believed a full-scale invasion would happen, and I believed the media was whipping up a terrifying storm of something too improbable to comprehend. So I ventured out to Kyiv. I sat down with ten people from various walks of life and asked them what they thought of the then-current situation and its potential to escalate.

Everything changed on the 24th of February when Russia launched their full-scale invasion. What was supposed to be a short video piece about inflammatory media rhetoric, turned into a far more important project. One that has and will continue to follow the lives and perspectives of ten principle people, as they experience events in their country now at war.

Since those first interviews before the war began, I have returned to Ukraine, most recently in late May, to start re-interviewing the people who have remained in Kyiv and meeting and interviewing other Ukrainians.

The Maidan, Kyiv

Inside a residential building in Irpin

Others have left, are in exile in Germany, or are planning to return. Seeing the changes that this war has made to lives is the focus; How Yana, apolitical when we first spoke, found her voice and identity as a Ukrainian, now speaking out passionately against the Russian aggression. Markiyan reported on the situation in Kyiv, for the Italian press, during the main assault on the city. Now he has joined the army and is training to fight. Artyom, who spoke about his father in the army and the need to fight if the time came, tried to join local fighters under shell and rocket fire as Russians tried to take Kyiv.

We are currently failing to watch and attest to history as it unfolds - events that will have lasting effects on us all, whether we know it or not. The situation, as felt by those in Ukraine, rarely reaches the front pages anymore.

This film is an on-the-ground perspective and testament to the most critical conflict of our time - a relatable and human perspective that puts people first.

Andrei

Yana

Artyom

Deliverables

The Sky is Blue: Year 1

Duration: 30-45 minutes

Delivery: August 2023 (estimate)

Due to the uncertainty of the length of the war we are packaging each year into its own film. The first film ‘The Sky is Blue: Year 1’ (working title) will cover from just before the Invasion, early February 2022 to the end of February 2023, the first year of the war, with an estimated run time of 30-45 minutes in length.

A final production trip to Ukraine is taking place from the end of January ‘23 to the end of February. Once filming is finished at the end of February 2023 it will go straight into post production with the aim of delivering the first film by August 2023.

Once production for the first year has been completed a review will be made of the budget and remaining funds to put towards further production trips into Ukraine. Due to the nature of the war, and the uncertainty around its duration, a decision will have to be made about further filming. It may be that Duncan cannot commit to multiple further trips due to financial constraints and therefore may only return to film with the participants at the end of the war, whenever that may come.

However should further support and investment be put into the project, then Duncan will continue to make trips into Ukraine, following up with the subjects of the film as the war continues. These further trips would come together as their own film following on from Year 1.

Next Steps, what will we do with the funds raised?

Travel back to Ukraine - Duncan will be travelling back to Ukraine in mid/late January 2023 to film the final parts of the first film. He would remain in Ukraine until the end of February rounding out the year. During his time in Ukraine he would:

- Conduct two sets of interviews with those from the film remaining in Kyiv. One at the beginning of the trip and another at or around the year mark, 24th February 2023.

- Record music for the film

- Make contact with Markian who is currently serving in the infantry (We have obtained Duncan’s military press card).

- Katya occasionally makes trips with her organisation to the front, Duncan would accompany her if there is an option to

- Interview editors to work on the film

Translation - We need to get the interviews conducted in Ukrainian and Russian translated and transcribed into English. Once we have all the transcripts we can go about building the narrative before the rushes are sent over to the editor.

Music - We are in the process of sourcing Kyiv based musicians to contribute towards a sound track for the film. On Duncan’s last night in Kyiv in June he came across Dima, a career musician we found playing the piano outside, to the backing track of air raid sirens. We are hoping to record some music with him on Duncan’s return to Kyiv. Alternatively one of the producers on this film, Gabriella, is based in Kyiv and can take the lead on sourcing music for the film.

Berlin Interview - Masha left Ukraine for Berlin in the first days of the invasion, where she has since stayed. Duncan intends to travel out to Berlin for a couple of days and conduct an interview with her. Alternatively we will organise for a Masha to record some video diaries answering a set of questions about her time in Berlin and her thoughts on the situation.

Sponsorship:

We have decided to include a set of rewards for our donators, these apply to all those who have already donated to the film.

Basic - Any amount

- Each donation will result in the name of the donator (unless stated or requested otherwise) being included in the credits under ‘Special thanks to our Donators’ - Updates on the film through our mailing list as the project moves through production

Level 1 - Donations from £200

- Premium access to the film (link to the film before premier)

Level 2 - Donations from £500

- A selection of digital print quality Images from the film (at completion of the film)

Level 3 - Donations from £1000

- A framed print chosen from a selection of images from the film (at completion of the film)

In-Kind Donations

- To be discussed and arranged with individual sponsors

Contributors:

FOMO House

The team at Fomo support this project and very kindly donated a camera kit for us to use on our most recent trip out to Ukraine.

Sam and Jamie have our immense gratitude for making sure we had everything we needed to film.

@fomohouse_

Coffee & TV

Coffee & TV is supporting the project in the post-production stage. We’re incredibly fortunate to have Tash Hicks on board to colour grade the final films. Her work is incredible, examples of which can be seen in the promo video for this project and pcitured below.

@tasharielhicks @candtvstudio